Railway rail and rail-joint



.Feb. 1937- s. G. THOMSON RAILWAY RAIL AND RAIL JOINT Fil ed Aug. 18, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG- 3.

1937- s. G. THOMSON RAILWAY RAIL AND RAIL JOINT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 18, 1951 FIG- 5.

FIG- 9.

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FIG-14.

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FIG-12.

FIG-11.

[/VVE/VTOR I Patented Feb. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES RAILWAY RAIL AND RAIL-JOINT Samuel G. Thomson, Flushing, N. Y.

Application August 18,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a new principle and arrangement of the bolting structure for a railjoint, whereby large saving is made in the weight of the bolting web of the splice bar, and a reduction in the size of the clamping bolts.

The principle involved in my improvement is to transfer the pull of the bolt from the zone midway of the height of the bolting web, where the force tending to bend the web is the greatest, to a lower position where a smaller bolt will do the same work. This lowering of the bolt-pull permits a web to be used having a thinner section and a greater upright span than heretofore found possible; thus effecting a large saving in metal, particularly when the bars are for modern high rails.

In the prior art, the method used in vertically locating the clamping bolts, has been to place their ccentreslinelat or ,adjacentto the horizontal plane midway between the upper and lower fishing angles of the rail. This has been the general practice since about the year 1860, when for the first time a T-rail was rolled with a section providing fishing-angles for splice bars. This new idea of a section having laterally disposed flat bearings for fish-plates was evolved from the pear-head rail which did not have splice plates bolted against the sides of the rail ends to hold them together. The pear-head section was used on the first fiat-bottom rolled iron rails, and was good design to prevent the soft iron head from breaking down. With the advent of steel for rail-rolling, a laterally disposed fishing-angle or fiat bearing under the rail head was conceived for the rail section in order to afford effective means for transferring the wheel load to side spliceor fish-plates, and also to give a greater efficiency to the rail as a beam.

With the beam-efliciency of the rail in View, the tendency during the recent rapid growth in height of the T-rail has been toward a wider and shallower head section. But during this development, the vertical distance between the fishing angles has increased much faster than the available width of fishing bearing under the rail head, despite some increase in head width. It may be stated roughly, that the first steel railabout 53 pounds weight and 4 inches high-had a vertical distance between the fishing bearings about four times the width of the bearing under the head, while in the modern 8 inch high, 150 pound rail, this same ratio is about eight-to-one. This development brought with it increasing difliculty in holding the splice bars squarely up to their work by means of a relatively very narrow upper 1931, Serial No. 557,763

flat bearing designed to slide inwardly in taking up wear.

In order to improve the stability of the splice bar against the raileven before its modern rapid increase in height-my Patent No. 1,005,583, Oct. 10, 1-911 substituted in the bolting structure a new action in which the bar rotates around a fixed upper fulcrum bearing as wear takes place, instead of being drawn inwardly an equal distance at the top and bottom in accordance with the prior art. The designs of this former patent show a fiat upper bearing for the bar under the rail head combined with a solid fulcrum bearing against the rail web. This prevents inward movement of the head of the bar, and thus differs from the fiat bearing with clearance allowed for sliding inward-the so called fishing-angle in the true sense of the prior art.

It will be noted in the aforesaid patent that the .bolt-is not lowered; but its location is maintained on the axis midway between the fishing angles, despite that the upper bearing prevents the bar from kicking inwardly out of normal position at the top, the bar therefore not requiring a mid-position of the bolt in order that there be equal clamping action at the top and bottom bearings. This middle position of the bolt in :the former patent is maintained also despite that the span of the bolting web of the bar is lowered in some of the designs. It also will be noted that the ,direct pull of the bolt is above or at the middle maximum position for bending or buckling the web, and that this webeither is heavy enough in section to resist this pull, or an outside bridgeplate is used in order to relieve the thin ,web by transferring the strains to the head and foot members ,-of the bar. No attempt is made to permit the use of athinner web ,by lowering the bolt below the usual position midway between the fishing angles.

My new improvement involves the modernizing of this principle of rotating the bar and bolting structure around an upper fulcrum bearing, and it comprises a lowering of the center-line of the bolt below positions heretofore used, by ,a substantial distance not less than one-half the diameter of the bolt below apoint midway between the bearings of the bar against the rail.

In early splice bar design, a bolting web was used which was uniform in section and symmetrical with reference to a horizontal axis midway of its height, and this ,axis was made to coincide with the axis midway between the fishing angles of the rail. Latendevelopment brought about more economical metal distribution by the use of contracted webs joined to enlarged head and foot members. In many designs, the enlarged head resulted in lowering the contracted bolting web so that its middle was below the axis midway between the fishing angles. The bolt was lowered also with the bolting web; but adequate nut clearance prevented it from following down equally with the bolting web, with the result that the center-line of the bolts has remained above the axis midway of the height of the bolting web and still in the zone of the axis midway between the fishing angles.

In many of the improved metal-saving designs of the prior art, it has been found difficult to hold down the center-line of the bolt even as low as the usual position midway between the fishing angles. In order to do this in some cases and to allow the necessary clearance for the nuts, a slight milling of the outer face of the bar was resorted to. See patents: Thomson, No. 944,298, Dec. 28, 1909; Schroeder, No. 947,581, June 25, 1910. In other early designs with enlarged heads, the bolt hole passes through the lower portion of the head in order to maintain its central location between the fishing angles of the rail. See Thomson, No. 960,238, May 31, 1910. This did not prove to be practicable in the extreme forms, on account of the difiiculty in punching the bolt holes partly through a thick head-section and partly through the thinner websection.

There are some designs in the prior art where there is a slight lowering of the bolt below the axis midway between the fishing angles in order to obtain the much desired enlarged section in the head of the bar. See several figures of Thomson patents, Numbers 549,945, Nov. 19, 1895; 586,804, July 20, 1897; 960,237, May 31, 1910. The enlarged head lowers the bolting web and draws the bolt down with it; but this lowering of the bolt slightly below the usual position midway between the fishing angles oi? the rail had no thought of thus effecting a reduction in the thickness of the bolting web of the bar or of thus being able to use a reduced size of bolt. It has been found from the use of these several designs having the bolt pull slightly below the mid-position between the fishing angles, that the combination of the low bolt with the wide fiat upper and lower fishing bearings which were used to hold the bar up square with the rail, the bolt below the mid-point was more of a detriment in service than an advantage in design. The bearings had to be very wide in order to hold the bar up square against the sub-central pull of the bolt.

In many modern designs of splice bars, the mid-axis of the web of the bar is coincident with the axis midway between the fishing angles of the rail, and this symmetrically locates the clamping bolts. In other modern designs, the mid-axis of the bolting web is below the midaXis of the fishing angles, as shown in some of the figures of the early patents mentioned above; and the center-line of the bolt is also below the axis midway between the fishing angles, but not below a middle position on the bolting web of the bar. Some designs may be in use with the bolt placed at this mid-position on a lowered web, in order to obtain symmetry with reference to the mid-axis of this web; but no design or motive is revealed in the prior art which places the bolt below this point. The most that has been accomplished thus far along this line, is to locate the bolt below the usual mid-position between the fishing angles a distance equal to or less than one-half the diameter of the bolt;

.or expressed differently: the uppermost face of the bolt has not been lowered below the horizontal axis midway between the fishing angles of the rail. In my invention, the center-line of the bolt is located below this extreme position heretofore used. That is: a distance of more than one-half the diameter of the bolt below the usual mid-position between the fishing angles, and also below the axis midway of the height of the bolting web of the splice bar.

The advantage in lowering the bolt is the moving of the bolt pull away from the middle of the bolting web, which is the weakest point of a substantially uniform web for horizontal resistance. This low bolt position in accordance with my improvement permits the use of a web of very thin section and wide upright span. The further the bolt is moved from its mid-position on the web where the moment of force tending to bend or buckle the web inward is greatest, the thinner the web may be to resist the pull of the bolt against it. At the same time, a substantial lowering of the bolt as indicated in the drawings and included in the claims appended hereto, in combination with a properly designed fulcrum upper bearing of the bar against the rail, permits a practical and gainful reduction in the size of the bolts.

The stress required in the bolt to exert a given clamping action at the lower bearing of the bar on the rail foot becomes less as the leverage or distance of the bolt from the fulcrum at the upper bearing becomes greater. However, such means for reducing the stress at the bolt must be accompanied in the rail design by a properly formed upper socket or enclosed bearing adapted to hold the top of the bar under the rail head, in order to compensate for the correspondingly less inward pressure exerted at this upper bearing by the low positioned bolt. Using a rough approximation as an illustration: A 1 inch bolt down two inches from the fulcrum may be replaced by a inch bolt down three inches from the fulcrum. A basic requirement in this lowering of the bolt is to have, as stated above, an upper holding bearing which partly encloses the inner portion of the head of the bar. Otherwise, with the usual fiat fishing bearing at the top and less clamping pressure due to the low bolt, the top of the bar would tend to slip outwardly under the Wheel load and away from a good fit under the rail head.

In order, therefore, to obtain good results with the bolt in a low position and to effect additional gain by the use of a smaller bolt, it is necessary to eliminate the designs of upper bearing heretofore used, and to substitute a modernized curved fulcrum bearing which has somewhat of the action of a holding socket. A good upper bearing of such character must qualify in meet ing four distinct functions: It must hold the head of the bar in place under load and against the upward thrust of a perfectly rolled bar when new; it must be self-adjusting in taking up the variations in size which are within the tolerances usually allowed in the bar and rail when new; it must maintain a good fit while the bar rotates through a very slight angle in taking up wear during its life; and it must provide as large bearing area as possible in order to protect the fiber of electrically insulated rail-joints. Some of my recent inventions involving this upper bearing have made it practicable to fulfill all of these andzbolt holes at theircenter-line; the linen-a, -.a .similar axis through the middle of the .upper bolts and bolt holes. .crum bearingior the bar under the rail head; e, .the lower afishing angle on the upper surface of the rail iant; :and .w, the upright bolting-web of the splice bar.

requirements :in one design or :type of pivoting curved :bearing, and it is @the purpose of this lowering of thebolt to increase the value of this new 'type of upper fulcrum bearing described in sev- .5 eral of my recent patents, notably, Numbers 1;806,426, May 1-9, .1931 and 1,816,009, July 28,

The low position of the bolt is particularly effective with and is a partof the development of 710 thetype of splice bars described and illustrated in my application No. 549,201, dated July 7, 1931. "Reference to this application for details of similar "designs of splice bars used in the drawings .appended hereto will permit the omission of much 1-15 "duplicate descrip-tion in this specification in regard to the various forms of splice .bars. .In these-designs which have been selected to illustratemy invention, it will be noted that the elim- -inationiof the large bulk of metal heretofore used in the section not the bar immediately over the -railfoot permits an unusually low position of the :bolt-evenmuch below the middle-of the bolting web. This very low position of the bolt permits the use :of a very thin *bolting web; so that, the

- combination of this type of bar with'the'low bolt,

=comprises a veryhigh degree of efiiciencyin splice bar:metal distribution.

When-myimprovement is used .with high mod- -ern rails, the bolt may-be lowered sufficiently to 130 allow space for an additional upper row of bolts.

Thisaffordsincreased possibilities for the maintenancebf .a reliable and constant tightness in the rail-joint.

=My invention, therefore, is supplementary to and of special advantage when used with the de- ..signs-of bars comprised in aforesaid application, :and also with the improved upper fulcrum bearingdescribed 1 in my Iformer patents. A few of #these combinations-have.beenchosen to illustrate 40some.ofthemostdesirable forms of this low'bolt improvement. Theprecisenature of myinven- .tionzbestwill be understood by referring to the accompanying :drawings. It is presumed however, thatthe invention is susceptible of various 4:50121161' modifications and combinations not shown inthe drawings without departing from the spirit andiscope asillustrated and asdefined in the appended claims.

.Figures 1 1 to 18 :inclusive, are sectional elevations of the rail and various;types of splice bars 'to which is applied .my improvement comprising itheiiow bolt positionand the light boltingweb. :Figures 9 and 10 are side elevations of a rail-joint "illustrating :several ways .in which the web of "the bar maybe :pressed'so .as .to use an upper sand a :lower :series of clamping .bolts passing "through the railweb. Figures .11 to 14 inclusive, are sectional elevations showing additional deisigns of splice bars comprising good combina- 'tions'of light boltingweb and. low position of the :bolt.

Further characteristics and differences in detail mayrbe understoodbestfiby referring to the following description of each figureof the drawiings.

ISimilar :reference characters designate: corresponding parts throughout the various figures .of the drawings.

The line C-L, wherever seen, designates the TO-horizontal axis or plane bisecting'the rail web 'midway between "the fishing angles oft-he rail; the line m m, the horizontal axisbisec'ting the bolting Web of the splice bar at the point midway of? itsheight the-uline 'b-b, the horizontal axis '75,orn planeiintersecting theylower clamping bolts designates the upper ful- Figures 1 and 2 show two designs of light-web bars clamped to the rail by bolt b through the .lower portion of the bolting web to. The bars have a large-radius fixed fulcrum-bearing I under the ,rail head and a flat fishingbearing e :adapted ;to slide inwardly along the upper surfaceof the rail foot in taking up wear. .prior art, 'it has been customary with some few .exceptions tojlocate the height of the clamping In the boltinthe position indicated by dotted lines with itscenterat axis CL, .whichaxis intersects the .verticalplane bisecting the rail web at l, which in turn, isa-point midway between the intersec- =tions land 3 ofgthe projected fishing faces with the .vertical plane bisecting the rail web. With curved upper bearings as here shown, a plane tangent to the curve and parallel to the oppositetop surface of the rail foot is used in locating the bolt approximately midway of the height of the rail web. This customary location of the clamping bo1tsho.wn in dotted lines-is approximately midway between the fishing angles, andthereforeeffects about equal clamping pressures at the upper and the lower bearings f and e ofthe baragainst the rail.

In Figures 1 and 2, as .well as in some designs of splice bars snow in use, axis CL intersects the bolting web of the splice bar at 4, which is above the axis m.m intersecting the bolting web of thebar at 5 midway of its height. In such designs oftheprior art ashavethe middle of the bolting web. of the bar'below the middle of the rail web, some attempts have been made to drop the center-line of the bolt also,,possibly as far down as axism-m; but no attempt or desire has been revealediheretofore to place the middle of the bolt below this point-midway of the height of the bolting web. In the prior art, therefore, the

maximum attainment in the direction of my improvement may be understood by considering-in Figs. -1 and 2-that the bolt is located with its center-lineat axis mm instead of at axis C--L. This, expressed in another way, means that, here- .tofore. the bolt has been dropped as much as onehalf its own diameter below the usual position midway between the fishing angles. In these two figures, axis m--m is intended to indicate the maximum lowposition of the middle of the bolting web and is almost coincident with the bottom of the bolt in its usual central position midway between the fishing angles. This makes the difference in-height of the twopositions mentioned,

equal to. about one-half the diameter of the bolt.

A basic feature of my invention is to lower the bolt below this maximum former low position adjacent to the middle of the bolting web of the bar, in order that the direct pull of the bolt is not in the zone where its action is the greatest in bending or. buckling the bolting web inward. The low position of the bolt at 11-19 in these two figures is about asfar belowaxis-m-m as it is possible to place the bolt, and it is thus similarly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. I'hus placed, it permits a very thin section of metal in the bolting web, particularly when the web is reinforced adjacent to the bolt holes,'as is the case in Figs. 1 to-4 inclusive.

It will be noted in these first four figures, that .the leverage of the: bolt-pull at b -fib' represented by the distance from 7 to the upper fulcrum bearing fis much greater than the leverage when the bolt is in its usual central position at axis CL, this latter leverage being represented by the distance from 4 to f. It follows then, that it requires possibly one-third less pull at bb than at CL to deliver the same clamping action at the rail foot. In order to illustrate this principle graphically, Figures 1 and 2 are drawn to scale so as to indicate in exact proportion, an 8-inch rail, a 1-inch bolt shown dotted at C--L, and a A-inch lower bolt at bb. Thus, the relative size and proportions and positions of the bolts are about as they appear in these two figures, for the same clamping action at the rail foot and the same unit fiber stress in the bolt. From these scale drawings, it is obvious at a glance and without any approximate or technical estimating, that the 1 inchor perhaps slightly larger-bolt which it is customary to use with large modern sizes of rails and splice bars, is un-mechanical and very much out of proportion to the high, thin bolting web of the bar. It is apparent that such a proportionately heavy bolt, located in the central zone of the light bolting web, would pull the web walls out of shape and buckle the bar when tightened to anywhere near to the capacity of the bolt. On the other hand, the lower inch bolt appears in good proportion to the rest of the mechanical structure, and it would effect a clamping action at the rail foot equivalent to the larger upper bolt, and without punishing the bolting web or buckling the splice bar inwardly at the bolt holes.

An efiicient design of fulcrum bearing at f is an important factor in my invention. With the customary fiat upper and lower fishing angles and with the bolt located midway between at CL, an equal clamping pressure is exerted at the upper and the lower bearings j and e. The lowering of the bolt increases the inward clamping pressure at the bottom bearing e and diminishes it at the topbearing 1. Consequently, the curved upper bearing must assume some holding-in action in order to compensate for the diminished pressure due to the lower position of the bolt. Otherwise, the head of the bar would tend to spread outward under the wheel load and kick inward at the bottom around the bolt-clamping point 1 as a center. In Fig. 4, radius 6 is drawn with l as its center. This radius intersects the outer under corner of the rail head at 8, thus indicating that the bar cannot revolve outwardly at the top with l as the center of rotation. This illustrates the holding or socket nature of a properly designed upper fulcrum hearing, such as will permit a substantial lowering of the bolt without increasing the tendency of the head of the bar to be wedged outwardly under the wheel load.

- Figure 5 and 6 show a pair of bars clamped together by a duplex arrangement of double bolting, in which an upper series of bolts at a-a is substantially above the usual position midway between the fishing angles at CL, while the lower series at bb is in the same relatively low position as shown in the former figures. With the bolting web design as shown in Fig. 5, the upper series of bolts could be located at CL the same as shown dotted in Figs. 1 and 2, or even with their center-line below CL, and still allow for eifective operation of the lower series of bolts at bb. The bolting web w in Fig. 5 is of the customary heavy type with sufiicient thickness in section to resist the lateral bolt pull, even if a single series of bolts were used and located at or adjacent to axis mm. With the duplex bolting arrangement, the two series of relatively smaller bolts span the middle of the bolting web and pull at about equal distances above and below axis m-m, thus clearly relieving the web w from any tendency to bend or buckle inward at its middle, even with a bar and web of these proportions for a very high rail. In Fig. 6, the thin bolting web has upper and lower reinforcements adapted for two series of bolts. This design of webwould not have suificient lateral resistance for the use of only a single series of bolts placed at or adjacent to axis mm.

Figure 7 shows a bar with a very low bolt pulling at the bottom and on the back of a light concave web 1.0. The concavity of the web and the very low pull of the bolt permits a very thin web to be used without any reinforcement. In Fig. 8, additional lateral stilfness is added to web 10 by reinforcement 9, in order to resist the pull of the bolt and also to increase the bearing of the bar on the rail foot. It is apparent that the bolting webs in both of these designs shown in Figs. '7 and 8 are too light for bolts located in the zone of axis mm. The thinness of section of these webs is about the same as is shown in the other light-web designs of the drawings, and

tribution for preventing the web of the bar from buckling when loaded vertically as a beam. It is the basic feature of my invention to provide means that will prevent a web of the same proportions from buckling under the horizontal pull of the clamping bolts.

Figure 9 shows a side elevation of a bar having the section shown in Fig. 6, the latter being a crosssection on Fig. 9 at the vertical plane midway between an upper bolt hole and an adjacent lower bolt hole. This Fig. 9 illustrates one arrangement of an upper and a lower series of bolts aa and bb respectively, the web of the bar being specially pressed to aiford vertical bolting faces for this arrangement of bolts as shown.

When the outer face of the bar is rolled vertical for the entire height of the bolting web-as in Fig. 5then the bolts in the upper and the lower series may be spaced and placed in any desired arrangement with reference to each other and with the ends of the rails.

Figure 10 shows the side elevation of a bar which might be rolled with a section similar to the designs shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The bolting web shown at the left end of the bar is suitably pressed to accommodate an upper and a lower series of bolts staggered in groups, while at the right end of the bar, an arrangement is shown for as many pairs of bolts, one over the other, as may be desired and in accordance with the length of the bar used. Fig. 9 drawn to scale, shows a bar of the usual length for six bolts, while Fig. l0drawn to about one-half the scale of Fig. 9- shows the proportions for a bar 44 inches long and for an 8-inch rail. A rail-joint of such length with the arrangement of bolts illustrated at the left end of the bar would have 14 bolts, while with the arrangement shown at the right, it would have 20 bolts of about 4-inch size. With the latter arrangement, a 30-inch length rail-joint would have 12 bolts. In these multibolt arrangements with double-upper and lowerseries, it is the feature of lowering the bolt according to my invention that makes it practicable to use the lower series. The multi-bolt rail-joint with the bolt size smaller than usual,

is specially adapted to afford a consistently and uniformly tight rail-joint for modern high rails and heavy service. It furnishes a refined clamping action, and is particularly adapted for high speed track. With the larger number of bolts, the rail-joint will remain tight and will hold up .to the full vertical stiffness of the splice bars,

even with a few of the nuts loosened by the constant vibrations of track service.

Figures 11 and 12 show the bolt bb raised slightly from the extremely low position illustrated in the former figures, and nearer to axis m-m at the middle of the bolting web. The thin webs of these bars are reinforced by deeply pressed portions, so as to resist the more nearly central pull of the bolts.

Figures 13 and 14 show bars with the usual heavy type of bolting web, which are sufficiently heavy in section to resist the bolt pull adjacent to axis mm. The center-line of the bolt bb is substantially more than half of the diameter of the bolt below the usual location at C-L midway between the fishing angles; but very slightly below or almost coincident with axis 112-111 at the middle of the bolting web.

From the foregoing description, it is thought that the novelty and the practical advantage of my invention will be understood without further elaboration. The low bolt position as herein described and as illustrated by the drawings, is new in the art. Its principal advantage is in removing the bolt-pull from the zone midway of the height of the bolting web. This permits the use of a very light section of metal in the bolting web of the splice bar, a web of such lightness as readily may be fortified additionally against the horizontal pull of the bolts by pressing it into various reinforcing shapes and corrugation, thus widening the over-all horizontal dimension of the bolting web. An effective reduction in the size of the bolts required is another distinct saving. These advantages, when combined with the metal-saving in the splice bar section as described in my aforesaid application, constitute a high degree of efficiency in the distribution of metal in the splice bar for rail-joints.

I claim:

1. In a rail-joint for T-rails, a splice bar comprising laterally disposed upper and lower members adapted to engage respectively the rail head and the rail foot, and a thin upright web joining said members, said web having substantially uniform thickness of wall thruout its height, and also having intermittent lengthwise portions diverging from the general lengthwise alignment of the web to form portions of said lower member adapted to intermittent foot engagement, and a clamping bolt having its uppermost surface lying nearer to the rail foot than to the rail head.

2. In a rail-joint for T-rails, a splice bar having a rail-engaging head, a rail base underlying foot and an interposed substantially thin web with bolt-holes therethru, the uppermost surface of said head lying below a horizontal plane at the undermost edge of the outer under corner of the rail head, said web having portions extending in an upright position adjacent to the outer edge of the rail foot, and other portions overlying and contacting with the top of the rail base, the top of said bolt-holes lying below a point midway of the height of the rail web.

3. In a rail-joint, a splice bar having a head, a rail base underlying foot and a substantially thin web, a portion lengthwise of said web extending in an upright position from its juncture with said foot adjacent to the outer edge of the rail foot, another lengthwise portion of said web varying from the general lengthwise alignment of said other portion and adapted to engage the top surface of the rail foot, bolt holes thru said web, the top of said holes being below a point midway of the height of the rail web.

SAMUEL G. THOMSON. 

